What's this doing in the bike lane?

Share your pics, videos, streets, stories of what you find in the bike lane of the non-bike variety that has an impact on your ride and/or your safety. I've decided to keep it a little more open ended - cars, snow, buses, garbage, cabs, etc. If they shouldn't be in the bike lane, go ahead and add it to this thread. Please be safe if you are taking pics or video! :-)

My hope is that we can collectively build some evidence of what we see when riding in the city with the overall hope of better enforcement of "bikes only" and improving maintenance.

Update: More Hashtags to Capture Vehicles in the Bike Lane

With popular hashtags:
#BikeLaneShaming

#LaneSpreading (Chicago Bike Selling)

#ClearTheWay (ActiveTrans), there are many options to capture violations.

We think you should use ALL of them AND post your photos on The Chainlink. ;-)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by yai danche on March 24, 2017 at 10:40am

Is this by UIC? I saw UIC Police writing a ticket for an Uber driver the other day.

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Permalink Reply by Gopher Biker on May 19, 2017 at 2:20am

Yes - Roosevelt and Wood.

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Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on March 22, 2017 at 10:57am

The usual evening commute on Franklin St in the Loop.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on March 23, 2017 at 9:38am

A small sample of the many vehicles in the Wells bike lane Tuesday evening.

The car wash line at 4558 N. Elston yesterday morning. Elston is pretty narrow with heavy rush hour traffic here, so getting in to the traffic lane can be a little hairy.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Z on March 23, 2017 at 5:26pm

Do yourself a favor and download the VLC player. It allows you to take full-resolution screenshots.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Dennis on March 24, 2017 at 8:10am

I have brought this to the attention of the alderwoman so many times and am always told they are looking into the law regarding this. I will send them an email pointing them to this thread and posting..

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Permalink Reply by Steve Dennis on March 24, 2017 at 10:37am

and here is the response from the office of Alderman Laurino:

Message body

Short answer is bikes are allowed to "take the lane" in Chicago to avoid an obstruction or hazard like a pot hole on the right side of the road and that's true with or without a bike lane. And vehicles are not supposed to park in bike lanes. ActiveTrans (formerly known as the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation has a campaign now to address this.
http://activetrans.org/blog/help-us-clear-way

Help us Clear the Way | Active Transportation Alliance

activetrans.org

Active Trans recently launched a new campaign, Clear the Way, aimed at increasing efforts to report instances of illegally parked vehicles in bike lanes, poor ...

Here are some relevant sections of the city code:

1. 9-40-060 - Driving, standing or parking on bicycle paths or lanes prohibited

2. City of Chicago Rules Regarding Construction in the Public Way

As mentioned, people biking have the legal right to “take the lane” on streets with and without bike lanes. When there’s an obstruction in the public right of way – which includes bike lanes and sidewalks – we encourage people to report it to the city, as we’re doing with our Clear the Way campaign. For non-emergency situations, residents can call 311. If the obstruction is a threat to public safety (e.g. bike lane fully blocked) then an immediate response is required and they should call 911. We’ve actually had reports of 311 operators telling residents to call 911 when they’re reporting parking in the bike lane.

These same principles apply to the car wash, which can’t legally block the public right of way. We will have a public way inspector look at the location. If they are still doing it, he will take appropriate legal action.